title: The relationship between asthma control and quality-of-life impairment due to chronic cough: a real-life study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of asthma therapy is to achieve optimal disease control and quality-of-life (QoL) improvements. Good correlation is reported between a composite evaluation of asthma control (the Asthma Control Test [ACT]) and QoL, with emphasis on asthma as a frequent cause of chronic cough and worsening of QoL due to chronic cough.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate asthma control in real life and to evaluate chronic cough-related impairment of QoL in patients with different degrees of asthma control evaluated by the ACT.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outpatients awaiting physician visits for asthma evaluation were asked to complete the ACT, the Chronic Cough Impact Questionnaire (CCIQ), and a rhinitis symptom score (Total Symptom Score [TSS] 5).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 122 patients (mean [SD] age, 44 [15] years; age range, 15-75 years; 61.5% female) were enrolled in the study, of whom 74% reported rhinitis in conjunction with asthma. Overall asthma control was substantially less than optimal (ACT mean score, 14) in 44% of patients. Asthma control correlated to a limited degree with the CCIQ among the total sample. In patients with asthma alone, the correlation between the ACT and the CCIQ was much improved. In patients with comorbid rhinitis, only those with significant symptoms (as determined by the TSS5) reported using rhinitis treatment; among these, no significant correlation between the ACT and the CCIQ was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Asthma control in real life is less than optimal in substantially few patients. The importance of cough in asthma is highlighted by good correlation between cough and the ACT score in patients without comorbid rhinitis. In patients with comorbid rhinitis, cough appears related more to rhinitis than to asthma control. The combined use of the ACT and the CCIQ may be useful to improve asthma management, especially among patients in whom cough remains a prominent symptom.
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, DIMI, Genoa University, Genoa, Italy. fulvio.braido@unige.it
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Braido
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baiardini
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balestracci
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fassio
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ravera
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellotti
authors.forename: Giorgio Walter
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Canonica
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003371:Cough / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires